Happy New Year

By Daniel Vestal
Jan. 5, 2012

The year 2012 promises to be a strategic one for CBF. And I, for one, am anticipating it. Of course no one knows the future, but I believe in the grace that birthed us and has sustained us. I believe in the Spirit that inhabits and indwells us. I believe in the providence that continues to form and transform us. 

A YEAR OF GATHERINGS. In the next few months several remarkable events are planned to equip and encourage churches. Many of them are possible because of strategic partnerships CBF enjoys. All of them are in addition to what is planned at state and regional levels and are evidence of the breadth and vitality of our community. A full explanation of these events is on our website. 

 • Faith in 3D, Jan. 13-16, Orlando, Fla. 
  • Narrative Leadership Retreat, Feb. 5-8, Washington, D.C. 
 • Church Works Conference, Feb. 27 – March 1, Norfolk, Va.
 • Advocacy in Action: Justice, Freedom, God’s Mission, March 19-21, Washington D.C.
 • The Call of the Wilderness: A Spiritual Renewal Retreat, April 9-12, Marathon, Texas.
 • A [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant, April 19-21, First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga.
 • Impacting Tomorrow: Traditional Churches Finding Their Future in God’s Story, May 18-19, Providence Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.
 • Pre-Assembly Prayer Retreat, June 18-20, Fort Worth, Texas.
 • CBF Leadership Institute, June 20, Fort Worth, Texas.
 • CBF General Assembly, June 20-23, Fort Worth, Texas.
 • SELAHvie, Aug. 6-9, Shocco Springs, Ala.
 • Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation, Oct. 14-29, Atlanta, Ga.

A YEAR OF EQUIPPING. For the fourth time in nine years, the Lilly Endowment has made a significant grant to CBF as it serves churches and ministers. Under the name “CBF Fellows Program,” this new ministry will be dedicated to strengthening women and men who are serving at their first church after seminary.

Through cohort learning, peer learning, coaching, mentoring and networking, young ministers will be given access to resources and experiences to help them meet the inevitable challenges of a first call. This program will begin with a 25 member cohort in 2012 followed by the selection of a second cohort in 2014.

A YEAR OF TRANSITION. The 2012 Task Force will bring its recommendations to the Coordinating Council in February and then to the General Assembly in June. They have been working diligently for 18 months to help us refocus and streamline organizational structures as well as foster greater collaboration. I have been following the work of this task force, and I can tell you they will bring exciting recommendations.

Also, the search committee for a new executive coordinator has begun meeting. With my retirement in June all of us should keep this committee in our prayers as they seek the right person to lead us into our next chapter of shared ministry.

Baptist decision making is based on mutual trust and respect. We don’t have a “command and control” hierarchy. We seek divine wisdom as we transition. We communicate openly. We ask God to guide our conversations and discernment. I have every confidence that our best days are ahead of us

A YEAR OF VISIONING. The theme for this year’s General Assembly, “Infinitely More” is taken from the doxology in Ephesians 3:20: “God is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.” The invitation is for each of us to come, ask and imagine what God can do through each of us and through all of us together.

We are a product of grace and a renewal movement within the Baptist family. That grace still abounds. The dream of cooperative mission lives on in CBF. The vision of being the presence of Christ among the most neglected is very much alive. The commitments to a biblically based global mission, to social justice, to women in ministry, to lifelong learning are still very strong. This is in our cultural and communal DNA.

For some this year may be a cause of anxiety. For me this is a year of anticipation. The renewal we have experienced in the past continues into the present and future. Renewal is never complete. It should be constant because our God is always making things new and always making new things. God is always raising up new leaders and new prophets with new understandings and fresh applications of the gospel. New voices need to be heard, new structures need to be created, new challenges need to be faced.

Happy New Year, CBF.

Daniel Vestal has served as executive coordinator since 1996.